Ultrasound in Mongolia

In June 2015, I set off with eight intrepid emergency physicians to teach emergency medicine to Mongolian doctors across a range of disciplines. A strong relationship between Australian and Mongolian anaesthetists has been forged since 2001 when Dr David Pesod first represented Australia at an anaesthesia conference. Over the years, Australian volunteers have delivered quality training in obstetrics and gynaecology, midwivery, paediatrics, surgery and emergency medicine. To my knowledge, this is the first year a sonographer has been to specifically teach point of care ultrasound techniques. After months of preparing talks, organising equipment, getting visas and reading countless emails, the group was set to go. I was thrilled to be part of an International Emergency Care (IEC) team along with FACEM doctors Simon Smith, Wolfgang Merl, Mark Putland, Robyn Parker, Luigi Marino, Ben Delaney, Rob Melvin and Peter Jordan. We were invited by the Mongolian Society of Anesthesiologists to teach emergency care. Mongolia is a fascinating place. Landlocked with Russia at it’s northern border and China on the east, south and west. With a tumultuous history from Ghengis Khan to the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mongolia has seen its fair share of conflicts. It is the most sparsely populated country in the world with a population of three million people, approximately 40% of which live in the capital city, Ulaanbaatar (UB). Many people living in rural areas maintain their traditional nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyle and while the economy is still reliant on agriculture and herding, the last 15 years has seen a boom in the mining industry. Mongolia is divided into 21 provinces (aimags) which are divided into 329 districts (soums). Health services are delivered at national, aimag and soum hospitals. As a group, we flew into UB before splitting into two teams. One set off for Dundgovi aimag but my team were destined for Khovd aimag, in the far west of the country. As we had two days in the capital before flying to Khovd, we were kindly given a tour of UB’s brand new Number Ultrasound in Mongolia